To Kill a Vampire
by Acaciahoney
Summary: "My name is Bella Swan and I am a Vampire Hunter. Highly skilled and impervious to the powers that bloodsuckers possess, I am a deadly weapon." When Bella moves to the small town of Forks, she has one goal in mind - to get close to the Cullen clan and report back on the threat they pose to humanity - but then she meets Edward Cullen. Will she put her career on the line for love?
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

I watched the family inside the grand house with the glass walls, they were sitting in the living room, barely moving, the only sign they were alive was the careful movement of their mouths when they spoke. They were like statues, beautiful, perfect, as though crafted from stone. One in particular had captured my attention – Edward Cullen – bronze hair and a chiselled jaw, he was just my type, but I was trying not to look at him for too long, because this was no ordinary family and I was no ordinary girl.

My name is Bella Swan and I am a Vampire Hunter. Highly skilled and impervious to the powers that bloodsuckers possess, I am a deadly weapon.

The Cullens were my latest assignment. The organisation I work for, the Consortium, they needed someone to get close to the Cullens to find out what threat they pose to humanity. I had been watching them for about a week now, learning about them, reading their profiles from a folder I was handed when I left the Academy. They seemed to live a quiet life, but the Consortium said that the Volturi - the closest thing vampires have to a royal family - want to acquire at least two of the Cullen clan, and that makes their coven either very powerful or very dangerous. It was my job to find out which, and if I discovered that the Cullens pose a threat, I was instructed to take them out one by one.

It sounded straight forward, maybe the easiest assignment I have ever had, but things were about to get complicated. I was about to fall in love.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 1

The sky is always grey in Forks. I had only been here a few days and already I longed for the burning sun of Arizona, to feel the rays on my face, but I took a deep breath and continued through the parking lot with my collar turned up against the wind and rain.

As I walked into the High School, I kept my head lowered, hoping my fellow students would buy the awkward, shrinking-violet demeanour I had adopted. Usually, I walk tall and strong, with my head held high, I ooze confidence, I am constantly alert in case of an attack and I watch everyone, looking out for an undiscovered vampire. But my father – and mentor – Charlie, decided that my usual behaviours might make it difficult for the rest of the student population to warm to me. He said a quiet, meek persona would make it easier for me to fit in.

He was right, as always, I had barely stepped over the threshold when a boy – Eric, I think his name was – was at my side, rambling about Forks, telling me my arrival was big news. I tried not to smile. This was exactly what I needed to happen. The more friends I made at Forks High School, the less likely the Cullen's would be to suspect what I really was.

I had even kept my real name, 'Bella Swan'. I was born in Forks, so people remember me, but it had been years since I had been here. For the past five years, I had studied at the Academy for Vampire Hunters on the outskirts of Arizona. Vampires were unlikely to ever venture there because they would be exposed under the almost constant glare of sunshine. Our instructors train us hard so we can bring down the most vicious of vampires.

Charlie was installed as the local Chief of Police in Forks - apparently there's a strong history of vampires here - but whenever an assignment came up, he would make his excuses at work and take some time off.

As I walk through the halls of Forks High School, I see some of the girls giving me reproachful, sideways glances and I try not to smirk. I had worn my hair down around my shoulders to hide my face, which was makeup-less and pale, since I had spent so much time indoors training for this assignment, and I wore a big, shapeless coat to hide my figure, yet I knew they still saw me as a threat, this was a small town, the numbers of good-looking, eligible eighteen-year-old boys were few.

I tried to appear confused by the interest of the male population of Forks High School, as if I couldn't possibly imagine what they saw in me, and this seemed to satisfy the girls. I was even invited to sit with a couple of them at lunch. I was starting to enjoy myself, relishing the ease at which I had integrated myself, when _they_ showed up, breezing into the cafeteria as though they weren't predatory creatures who could tear this place apart in the blink of an eye.

I let one of the girls at my table – Jessica – tell me about each of the Cullens, as though I had no idea who they were. When Edward breezed into the room, everyone turned to stare, he was breath-taking and I felt my pulse quicken. I tried to ignore it, turning my attention instead to the smallest of the Cullens – Alice. Right now, she was the most dangerous to me, because she could expose me. Alice can see into the future, and if she looked for me in her visions, she might see my true intentions. Charlie had prepared me for this of course, I wouldn't be the one to make the decision on what happens to the Cullens, and I had a unique ability of my own which would help.

For some reason unknown to me, Charlie, or the Consortium – the organisation that leads the hunt for vampires – I am impervious to vampires' gifts. They can't draw me in like they can other people, they can't manipulate me, or use any of their powers on me. Alice would be able to see my actions, should she have a vision of me, but they would be abstract, subjective, she wouldn't understand what she was seeing. Unless she saw me standing over one of the Cullens with a stake in my hand – I think that would be a pretty obvious sign of things to come.

They are all looking at me now – the Cullens – and I lower my head, trying to appear abashed at having been caught staring. The blonde one, Rosalie, stares back with what I can only describe as open hostility and the big one, Emmett, I realise now that he could be tricky to take down if it comes to a fight, purely because of his size. I know that Jasper was a fearsome vampire soldier and that he still struggles with maintaining the strict, non-human diet the Cullens have adopted, but Edward…Well, while I have no doubt that he too could be just as dangerous as his siblings, there is something in his face that already suggests defeat, a pain etched on his face that tells me if someone were to come along and end his vampire existence, he would meet them willingly. For some reason, this makes my chest ache and I turn my back on him with a heavy heart.

 _**If you like my writing, please check out my original novel 'Where Foundlings Hide' at amazon_ Where-Foundlings-Hide-K-L-Mitchelson-ebook/dp/B01M11HFYW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8 &qid=1476647030&sr=8-1&keywords=where+foundlings+hide **


	3. Chapter 3

"So, how did it go?" Charlie was in the kitchen, his tools of the trade laid out on the scrubbed oak table in front of him. He held a silver stake up to the light and then went back to polishing it. He's very precious about his weapons.

"Hello to you too, Dad," I said, flopping down into a seat opposite. "And it went perfectly fine, thank you."

He watched me as he set the stake down beside a particularly menacing-looking axe. "You sure? You look a little…anxious."

I immediately stopped chewing the inside of my mouth. "I'm not anxious, I'm never anxious. I saw the Cullens, they saw me, and they didn't suspect a thing."

"But…."

I frowned at Charlie. "But what?"

He raised an eyebrow. It was no good trying to fool him, he knew me too well. Besides, reading body language was part of the training for Vampire Hunters.

"Fine," I huffed. "It's just…I mean they seem pretty tame. They don't drink human blood, they go to school every day, the other students are totally intimated by them, obviously, but they don't know why. I just can't see what threat they pose."

Charlie started to wrap his weapons in clean strips of linen before placing them carefully inside the wooden chest at his feet. "I know what you mean, I've been following the leader of their coven, Carlisle, he works at the local hospital. He's well respected by his colleagues, loved by his patients, and his wife, Esme, she just keeps a low profile. But the Consortium must have a good reason for wanting to keep an eye on them and we have to trust that."

"I guess, have you eaten?"  
Charlie shook his head and I wondered how he survived living on his own all this time. I prepared a quick dinner for us both and while we ate, Charlie quizzed me on all things vampire, preparing me for my final test at the Academy. I hadn't received my Vampire Hunters license yet – this assignment was part of the test, along with a final written paper. Once I passed, I'd be able to hunt without oversight from a mentor – or Charlie in my case.

Don't get me wrong, I liked spending time with Charlie, between the Academy and seeing my Mom, Renee, there's little time for anything else. She and my Dad split up when I was younger, and she has no idea that Charlie and I are Vampire Hunters. She believes I was enrolled in an elite boarding school, funded by some money left by Grandma Swan, but Renee always suspected that Charlie was keeping a secret, it was what drove them apart.

After dinner, I shrugged into a thick jumper and then my waterproof coat, slipping a stake into each pocket, then I climbed into the rusted, old red truck I was presented with when I got here. Tonight, I was instructed to watch the Cullens in their home for a few hours, see what they got up to and report back. I felt the flutter of butterflies in my stomach, a stakeout always gave me a thrill.

Charlie said it would help me fit in, but I couldn't help thinking it might be his idea of a joke. I pulled the rusted door shut, rattling the ancient windows in their frames, then I started up the engine and backed off the narrow drive.

I'd have to park by the roadside and make my way on foot through the trees to the Cullens' house. My scent would be mostly masked by the smell of damp earth, by the moisture still clinging to the trees from an earlier downpour, Alice might see me coming of course, but if I was confronted by the Cullens, I had my excuse prepared – I would say that I had car trouble, they might even welcome me into their home while I waited for a tow truck.

It was dark on the road, and when I pulled the truck to a halt, I reached under the seat for the flashlight. I kept to the edge of the forest where the trees were sparser, the ground littered with pine needles. My breath fogged the air and my hand closed automatically around the stake in my pocket. There were other things beside vampires in the forest. It was teeming with life, animals both big and small. Charlie had told me some of the local legends about werewolves, and while I didn't quite believe in them, I felt a shiver down my spine every time I heard the snap of a twig or the rustle of the leaves.

The figure in front of me moved so fast that I barely had time to react until he was right in front of me. Edward Cullen.

 _**If you like my writing, please check out my original novel 'Where Foundlings Hide' at amazon_ Where-Foundlings-Hide-K-L-Mitchelson-ebook/dp/B01M11HFYW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8 &qid=1476647030&sr=8-1&keywords=where+foundlings+hide **


	4. Chapter 4

Without realising it, I had walked deeper into the forest than I had intended, and with Edward standing before me, I had completely lost my bearings. His skin had an almost silver-sheen in the pale torch-light, he looked beautiful, ethereal. We stared at each other for what felt like an eternity, his eyes not straying from mine, his face expressionless. When he finally spoke, I felt my heart quicken.

"Are you lost?"

My mouth was suddenly dry. "Car trouble." The voice that left my lips seemed so unlike my own, it came out small and weak and I felt the heat rise in my face.

I knew he saw the flush of blood in my cheeks, because I saw his jaw tense. "I heard you pull over," he frowned. "Your car sounded fine."

My fingers tightened around the silver stake in my pocket. "It was the lights," I lied. "One of the headlights went out and I couldn't see the road."

"So you thought you'd wander around in the woods?" He raised an eyebrow, giving him an air of cockiness. "What are you really doing out here?"

"I could ask you the same question," my heart was pounding in my chest, so loud that I was sure he would hear it even without his vampire senses. I could only imagine the internal battle that was no doubt raging inside of him, alone with a defenceless girl in the woods who he could drain in seconds. Only this girl wasn't defenceless. "Do you often wander in the woods in the middle of the night?"

"Yes," he said, unabashed. "It calms me. I don't sleep…. well."

I knew for a fact that he didn't sleep at all, but I wasn't about to tell him that.

"You want me to take a look at your car?" He said, looking in the direction of the road side.

Realising I wasn't going to get anywhere near the Cullen's house tonight, I agreed and we trudged side by side back to my truck.

"You're Isabella Swan." He said. He was watching me intently, not bothering to check the ground as he walked. It was like he had the forest floor memorised.

"It's just Bella." I said.

"I'm Edward Cullen, I saw you at school today."  
I stepped purposefully around a patch of bracken and over an old, knotted tree root. Then, remembering that I was supposed to be playing the part of an awkward teenager, I feigned a stumble. The sudden movement made Edward hiss through his teeth and instead of reaching for me, as a person might do, he stepped back sharply.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I didn't mean to startle you, I'm a little clumsy."  
He nodded once. "Usually I'm very good at reading people, at learning things about them, but you…. well, let's just say you're a bit of an enigma."  
I tried not to smile. Edward Cullen was a skilled mind reader; I had read that in the profile I was given by the consortium, but his power wouldn't work on me. It was one of the reasons I was selected for the Vampire Hunter Training Academy. Charlie would have sooner protected me from the life of a Hunter, but the Consortium caught wind of my gift and it was taken out of his hands.

"I'm not an enigma, I'm just-"

But Edward had stopped suddenly, his hand raised in warning, his eyes scanning the trees.

"What's-"

"Sh," he said. "Don't say a word."

I threw the torch light in the direction of where he was looking, and that's when I saw it, two eyes peering out at us from between two ancient oaks. These weren't human eyes, nor did they belong to any vampire, they were unmistakably those of an animal.

The Mountain Lion stepped proudly through the thicket towards us, its eyes fixed on me. Edward moved in front of me so quickly he was like a blur. He crouched low, a growl rumbling in the back of his throat. The Mountain Lion did the same, ready to pounce.

"Run." Edward whispered.

But my feet were glued to the floor, I couldn't move. Part of me wanted to stay to see what happened, but part of me was also afraid for the vampire standing between me and the lion.

At the Academy, I had learnt that most animals are afraid of vampires, they give off a predatory scent that keeps them from coming near, but some animals, particularly big, wild animals, might try their luck if a vampire stands between them and their prey.

Charlie had told me that the Mountain Lions in these parts were becoming less afraid of humans and their attacks on locals were becoming more frequent. Right now, I was grateful for Edward Cullen. I might be able to stake a vampire, but I had never tested my abilities against a wild cat.

For a second, I thought the Mountain Lion would turn and disappear back into the woods, but then he sprung forward, a roar issuing from between his sharp, pointed teeth. Edward jumped at the same time, colliding with the creature in mid-air and sinking his teeth into its throat. It was over in seconds and the lion lay motionless on the ground, Edward standing over him, remarkably unblemished. When he turned to look at me, I saw a brief flash of red in his eyes before they reverted back to their usual golden amber.

Then he said that word again, and this time it wasn't the lion that was the threat. "Run."

 _**Check out my debut novel 'Where Foundlings Hide' at Amazon**_


	5. Chapter 5

"Well, what are you waiting for?" He said. "I told you to run. Go." His eyebrows were drawn together, his whole body shaking.

"No." I said, as loud as I dared and as steady as my wavering voice would allow.

He clenched his fists at his sides and a low growl issued from his throat. He was trying to intimidate me, to frighten me off. He all but bared his teeth at me, but I stood firm.

'That won't work on me." I said, lifting my chin. "I'm not afraid of you." It was true, I wasn't afraid of Edward Cullen, it wasn't the fear of having my throat ripped open like the mountain lion that had set my heart racing.

"You should be," he replied. "You saw what I can do, what I'm capable of."

I took a small step towards him, releasing the stake still clutched inside my jacket pocket. "You just saved my life." I said. "Why would I be afraid?"

He looked down at the creature on the ground and then back at me. "Do you understand what just happened?" He said, remorse flashing over his face.

I debated lying to him, feigning disgust or surprise, but it was a little too late for that to be convincing, and something told me that telling the truth might get me closer to my goal.

"I know what you are." I said.

iNow it was his turn to look surprised.

"You're not the first vampire I've met, I was attacked by one when I was younger." This was also true. A tracker that Charlie had been hunting found out he had a daughter. The vampire took me right out of school and would've killed me if Charlie hadn't found us in time, it's how I learnt all about Charlie's secret identity and his double life as a Vampire Hunter.

"I'm not like other vampires," Edward said. "My family and I don't feed on humans, we certainly wouldn't condone attacking a child." He stepped casually over the dead animal at his feet, stopping just inches away from me, his sweet, intoxicating scent mingling with the smell of blood and earth. "You know, there are rules about humans knowing the truth about vampires."

I tried to suppress the smile that was playing around my lips. I knew this rule of course, the Volturi would have any human that knew about their kind destroyed. "I won't tell if you don't."

He reached forward hesitantly and I held my breath as he brushed my hair back lightly off my face, tucking a stray lock behind my ear. "It would be dangerous for us to be friends and yet….there's something about you, something drawing me in. I felt it when I saw you at school today."

I gave him what I hoped was a bashful smile and he dropped his hand frowning a little.

"Can I at least give you a ride home, I'll feel better knowing you got there safely."

I nodded, because my tongue felt like it was glued to the roof of my mouth, preventing me from talking.

Back in the cab of my truck, Edward took the keys from me and started the engine, he frowned when he saw both headlights flooding the road ahead of us, but he made no comment.

I watched his face – as still as stone in the almost-darkness – as he turned the truck around and headed back towards town. He caught me looking a I quickly glanced down at my hands.

"This is extremely frustrating." He said, shaking his head.

"What is?"

He smiled a little, softening his features and making him look impossibly handsome. "Well, you see vampires possess gifts, special abilities if you like."

"Oh?" I bit my lip.

"I have the ability to read minds, I have been able to read the mind of every person I have ever met….except you."

"So what's wrong with me?"I tried to keep my voice even, it frustrated most people at the Academy and the Consortium, not knowing why I was immune to vampire abilities.

He laughs. "There's nothing wrong with you, at least not that I can tell. I'm just having a hard time figuring you out."

"There's really not much to know about me."

"Your dads Chief of Police , right?"

"Er, yeah."

"But you just moved here."

It looked like I wasn't the only one who had done my homework. "Yeah, I was at a private school, but Dad wanted me to spend my last couple of years before college with him."

"Do you miss your old school, your friends?"

"I guess." The Academy wasn't really about making friends, we were comrades. We were taught not to get too close to one another, firstly because we would be in competition for the biggest assignments as Vampire Hunters, and secondly because deaths and disappearances amongst Hunters were common – we didn't need the emotional turmoil of losing a friend.

He gave an indignant sigh. "You don't give much away."

I looked out at the dark road ahead, waiting for the glow of lights that bathed the small row of houses where Charlie lives.

"What about you?" I said, shifting the attention away from me. "How did you become a vampire?"

"Carlisle - my father - turned me." He said, his expression was suddenly stony and now it was his turn to be quiet. He pressed his foot more firmly against the accelerator, the dark shadows of the trees whipped by in a blur and before I knew it we were outside of Charlie's house. Edward killed the engine and sped around to the passenger side, he pulled the door open before I even had chance to reach for the handle. I glanced past him at the front door and saw Charlie's form through the frosted glass.

"I take it speed is a vampire ability too," I said. "You better hope none of my neighbours were watching."

He smiled a little. "Even if they saw that, they wouldn't believe it."

As he walked me to the front door, I saw Charlie's silhouette move behind the glass.

"That's just my-" I turned to the spot where Edward has stood just moments ago, but he was gone.

The front door opened letting out a triangle of light. "Everything OK, Bells?"

"Fine Dad."

"Edward drove you home? That was quick work."

I stepped around Charlie into the warm hallway and shed my coat. He closed the door behind me and propped the crossbow that he had concealed behind his back against the wall.

"A little melodramatic." I said, rolling my eyes at him.

"Well I'm not comfortable with having vampires so close to my home," he said. "When I saw he was with you, I grabbed the first weapon I laid my hands on. I thought you were supposed to be checking out where they lived."

"Well it didn't quite work out like that," I said, kicking off my boots now caked in mud and dead leaves. "I had barely got out of the truck when Edward appeared."

"He stopped you from getting close to the house?"

"No, it wasn't like that," I said, shaking my head irritably. "Edward was walking in the woods, he found me, so I lied and said I had car trouble. Then we got attacked by a mountain lion."

Charlie's eyes were wide. "A mountain lion?"

I nodded solemnly. "Edward took it down before it could reach me."

"He took down a mountain lion? Right in front of you?" Charlie laughed. "Well it looks like you didn't have a wasted trip after all, Bella. That's certainly something the Consortium would be interested in hearing about."

Something suddenly spiked within me. "You know he was just helping me, right? He saved my life."

"He took down a wild animal," Charlie said. "It demonstrates what this coven are capable of."

"We already know that they are strong, that they feed on animals. Why would the Consortium care about this?"

"Because he did it in front of you," Charlie said. "It's not just the Volturi that try to protect the secret of vampires, the Consortium doesn't want the public to know about them either. There would be chaos, people hunting them without the proper skills, others offering themselves up in exchange for immortality, it could mean the end of the world as we know it."

I watched helplessly as Charlie stalked into the kitchen and picked up the telephone. What had I done?

**Check out my debut novel 'Where Foundlings Hide' at Amazon**


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